Some of the comments on my story gave more examples of how the use of “microstock” photography (for more on that, go to the end of this post) is spreading. One commenter received $200 from Newsweek magazine for a Flickr photo.

BobMac: Last week, I had the Wall Street Journal ask me about using two of my pictures they saw on Flickr for a special wine section.

wvdirtboy: I have been contacted by publishers four times now about pictures on my Flickr page. One offered to pay me and I suggested $50 … But I’m just glad to see my stuff out there and who cares if it takes $ away from a professional photographer? Should we ban posting stories on the Web because professional writers may lose readers? It’s an evolving world and some people will lose and some people will win – even if they don’t win money.

Other comments delve into aspects of the story that the people I interviewed talked about, but I didn’t have enough room to explore in the paper. Here are some excerpts from our reader’s comments:

califlefty: For those of you who posted that you get a thrill having your picture published for no payment would change their tunes if you found out your boss just brought in an intern to do your job for the learning experience. Guess what, the thrill is that much better when you get a check and the photo credit. Don’t give your work away to massive corporations!

amousepotato: I’ve got maybe 20000 photos of New York and San Francisco I want people to see. This is a great way – a real dream for amateur photographers for their work to be seen.

Daveinthecity: This is a bad thing for everyone. Yes, it’s killing the profession by taking work away from the pros, but also by preventing any chance of ever becoming a pro. There’s no way for anyone to make a career out of photography if all the publishers are just going with cheap amateurs. So the profession’s dead and everybody loses.

visitor: We are in the midst of a revolution in how people create images. Granted, those folks comfortable in the existing paradigm would prefer that change not happen, but guess what? IT IS HAPPENING even as we moan and groan. Digital cameras are so good and so easy to use that just about anyone can produce a fine image by pointing and shooting. I won’t give my images away, largely out of deference to friends who are professionals, but I’ll gladly license them for a fair fee when the occasion presents itself. It is a new world. Relax and enjoy it.

BrandonSF09: I use to get reports of how much a picture is sold for from stock agency. When you see it go from $2,000.00 to $2.00 or people start asking to use your stuff for free, you know the business has gone to the dogs.

Elephant-talk: Quality photography is not limited to professionals, but professionals are far more likely to take a quality photograph. The mistake people often make is to confuse good technique with art. … I don’t see this as a “race to the bottom”. Does it create more competition for professional photographers? Yup – welcome to the free market economy, Virginia. But, instead of lowering the bar, it only raises it – professionals will have to work harder … I liken those who complain about the “race to the bottom” with so-called audiophiles – these people don’t love art, they just love being elitists.

doyle_saylor: The decline in prices for photos is related to a big increase in photos available. The evolution of the photo market is related to how business models are changing in publishing. Most contemporary photo content is frozen into a non-interactive mode of display. This conflicts with computer tools and viewing. The computer allows interaction and that’s the value gaining ground against traditional photo media. Some sort of symbiosis will emerge over time in which interactive media will dominate in value and therefore cost.

kimboi: just another tiny bit of the culture of professionalism and competence falling into ruin. Before long, they’ll be engineering bridges by volunteer committees on the Internet. … Hell, anybody can snap a photo! What’s the big deal with cutting out someone’s appendix? Brain surgery really isn’t all that hard.

Incidentally, for more on this topic, I ran across a Web site called the Microstock Diaries, which is devoted to the selling of photos online. As the site explains, the term “microstock” is a contraction of “micropayment stock photography” and now describes the segment of the online, royalty-free stock photography market of photos from the public.